1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to food carriers, and more specifically to a lightweight portable food server with a plurality of drainable compartments for separating fluids dripping from foodstuffs placed in the compartments, such as oil from fried foods.
2. Prior Art
Certain foods are characteristically intended to be served hot with fluids exuding from them, especially common for fired foods such as oriental egg or spring rolls, pizza pockets, burritos, taquitos, fried potatoes, fish sticks, bread sticks, hot dogs and sausages. Cold foods chilled in cold water will also drain. When these foods, hot and cold, are served in a conventional serving tray, the exudates collect on the tray bottom and the food sits in them, soaking up the exudates. The effect is reduced when elongate foods are assembled generally vertically in the serving tray so the exudates drain down, but the lower portion of the foodstuffs continue to sit in the exudates pooled at the tray bottom. This is undesirable. To reduce the effect, the hot foods may be placed on an absorbing towel to collect a portion of the exudates but the foods cool during the process and are served less hot than preferred. Similarly, the cold foods are wiped with an absorbing towel. Often, for example, rather than allow the hot food to cool, the food is served with the excess exudates.
The object of the present invention is to have a portable server that receives hot or cold foods with exudates directly from the preparation process (i.e., deep frier, baking oven, chilled tub, etc) for uninterrupted delivery to the consumer. It is another object that that food exudates drain from the foods on the server during service but do not pool on the server bottom with the food sitting in it. It is a further object that the server support elongate foodstuffs generally vertically so the exudates drain down to the bottom.